Bush plans G-20 summit after election

President Bush has invited the leaders of the G-20 countries to Washington for an economic summit in November, the White House said yesterday. 

{mosads}White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush’s would-be successors —Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain — were informed of the summit Wednesday morning, but she said it is too early to say if the winner of the election will be invited to either the summit or the dinner the president is hosting the night before.

“Let’s just let this election happen,” Perino said. “We don’t want to box the next president in.”

She added that Bush will look for input from the candidates and the president-elect in the days leading up to the Nov. 15 summit.

Perino noted that, after the candidates were made aware of the summit, she thought “they were supportive of the idea.”

The purpose of the summit, Perino said, is to address the causes of the global economic crisis, the progress countries are making in addressing it and how to move forward with reforms that would prevent a repeat.